MICHELLE Atherton raised more than £500 for an epilepsy charity by swimming 150 lengths of a Bolton health club pool.

Michelle, aged 31, from Halliwell, took almost two hours to do the sponsored swim at the Esporta Health and Fitness Club in The Valley.

The money will go to the FABLE charity -- For A Better Life with Epilepsy -- which will help people diagnosed with the condition, such as Michelle's boyfriend Mark Culver.

Mark, aged 30, developed epilepsy after he was hit on the head with a brick as he walked home from a town centre nightspot. He has suffered fits ever since and is due to have surgery next week to ease the condition.

If the operation is unsuccessful, Mark will have to have a device fitted called a Vegas Nerve Stimulator, which will counteract the electrical impulses in the body which cause epileptic fits.

FABLE helps people such as Mark with funding for equipment and operations which can make their lives easier.

Michelle said: "I hadn't been swimming for 20 years before I started training. It was difficult but I enjoyed it."

Michelle was also helped by Alan Salmon, landlord of the Belle Vue pub in Halliwell Road, who also suffers from epilepsy. He raised £200 from pub customers and Birthdays card shop donated a giant teddy, which helped to raise £100 in a naming competition.